117-785: Bronzeville may refer to: Another name for the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, during World War II A neighborhood and district in Chicago , Illinois Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District , a historic district within the Bronzeville neighborhood King-Lincoln Bronzeville , a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio A neighborhood in Milwaukee , Wisconsin Bronzeville (play) ,
234-610: A 2009 play by Tim Toyama and Aaron Woolfolk Bronzeville (podcast) , an audio drama by Larenz Tate and Laurence Fishburne Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bronzeville . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bronzeville&oldid=1130085497 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
351-714: A backdoor to the Chinese Exclusion Act , and bring in their relatives from China . The earthquake was also responsible for the development of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The immense power of the earthquake had destroyed almost all of the mansions on Nob Hill except for the James C. Flood Mansion . Others that had not been destroyed were dynamited by the Army forces aiding the firefighting efforts in attempts to create firebreaks. As one indirect result,
468-846: A commercial core still managed to exist in Little Tokyo. Due to lack of housing in Little Tokyo, many Japanese Americans returning from the camps moved into apartments and boarding houses in the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Los Angeles . Notably, Boyle Heights , just east of Little Tokyo, had a large Japanese American population in the 1950s (as it had before the internment ) until the arrival of Mexican and Latino immigrants replaced most of them. The post-war Japanese-American population in Little Tokyo had become only one-third of its pre-war population. Many Issei and Nisei who had previously owned large businesses or were heavily involved in agriculture now returned with little resources to work in civil service or other simple jobs. Concurrently,
585-532: A fireman who told me that people in that neighborhood were firing their houses...they were told that they would not get their insurance on buildings damaged by the earthquake unless they were damaged by fire". One landmark building lost in the fire was the Palace Hotel , subsequently rebuilt, which had many famous visitors including royalty and celebrated performers. It was constructed in 1875 primarily financed by Bank of California co-founder William Ralston ,
702-559: A great way to find Japanese video games that were either never translated into English, or were never domestically released in North America. There are also several stores that sell manga and anime related products. The Japanese Village Plaza is located roughly in the center of Little Tokyo on the east side of San Pedro Street . There are several restaurants in the plaza, plus a number of shops geared towards tourists. First Street and Second Street border Japanese Village Plaza and have
819-442: A growth in community and the establishment of a commercial district. By 1908, around 90 Japanese-run boarding houses could be found throughout Los Angeles. In 1909, Little Tokyo was described as "bounded by San Pedro , First and Requena Streets and Central Avenue . The Los Angeles Times added: "It has a population of about 3,500 Japanese ... there are 10,000 Japanese in the city who make this section their rendezvous." The area
936-684: A high concentration of legacy institutions. East West Players , one of the nation's first Asian American theater companies and the longest continuously running theatre of color in the nation, specializing in live theater written and performed by Asian American artists, is located in Little Tokyo, performing in the David Henry Hwang Theater, a 230-seat venue in the Union Center for the Performing Arts. The Japanese American Community and Cultural Center (JACCC) runs
1053-495: A kiosk on Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Street and contains a monument to Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka , a Japanese American from Hawaiʻi who was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Challenger when it disintegrated during takeoff in 1986. Little Tokyo has a variety of public art, including a memorial statue of Chiune Sugihara , Japanese consul to Lithuania before World War II and Righteous among
1170-647: A large redevelopment plan was put in place to be enacted in the early 1950s, but due to a lack of state funding and wealth in the Japanese-American community following three years of internment, the plan fell to stagnation. Following the construction there of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in 1953, Little Tokyo's commercial area shrunk by one fourth from its original size. 1,000 residents were displaced to other parts of Los Angeles. The current site of Parker Center ,
1287-702: A major convening point for AAPI artists in the entertainment industry, and a central incubator for the nation having twice before hosted the National Asian American Theatre Conference and Festival put on by the Consortium of Asian American Theatre Artists. Little Tokyo has also seen the rise of many adjacent movements in the AAPI entertainment world such as Asian American theater companies Teada , Lodestone Theatre, Artists at Play, Hereandnow Theatre, Asian AF Comedy shows, and
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#17327726213931404-557: A makeshift tent city in Golden Gate Park and were treated by the faculty of the Affiliated Colleges. This brought the school, which until then was located on the western outskirts of the city, in contact with significant population and fueled the commitment of the school towards civic responsibility and health care, increasing the momentum towards the construction of its own health facilities. In April 1907, one of
1521-596: A number of yakiniku restaurants, where meat is often cooked on a small grill built into the center of the table. Little Tokyo is the birthplace of the California roll , invented by a chef named Ichiro Mashita at the Tokyo Kaikan sushi restaurant. Two wagashi (Japanese sweets) shops located in Little Tokyo are among the oldest food establishments in Los Angeles. Fugetsu-do, founded in 1903, appears to be
1638-576: A number of restaurants that are open later than those in the court. The Weller Court shopping mall is located along Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka St., backing up to 2nd St. on the south and what was originally the New Otani Hotel, now the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown , along Los Angeles Street, to the north and west. It has several restaurants, karaoke clubs, and a Bubble Tea cafe. For tourists visiting from Japan, there are
1755-400: A number of shops specializing in expensive name brand products such as Coach handbags. There is also a large bookstore, Kinokuniya , that is part of a well-known Japanese chain. They have a large selection of Japanese-language books, magazines, music CDs, manga , and anime , as well as a selection of English-language books on Japanese subjects and translated manga and anime. Weller Court
1872-549: A pivotal role in the first large wave of Japanese Immigration to the United States as the Japanese were heavily recruited to serve as 'cheap labor' in place of the now excluded Chinese laborers. One of the people influenced by this first wave of Japanese Immigration was Hamanosuke Shigeta, a Japanese seaman who settled in southeast Los Angeles, an area which would eventually become Little Tokyo. There Shigeta established
1989-420: A presence. East West Players saw the early careers of actors such as Daniel Dae Kim , John Cho , Reggie Lee , Amy Hill , Lucy Liu , Isa Briones , as well as playwrights Qui Nguyen . Lauren Yee , and David Henry Hwang . In 2018, actor George Takei returned to Little Tokyo for the first Post Broadway staging of the musical Allegiance by Jay Kuo & Lorenzo Thione co-produced by East West Players and
2106-583: A result of the erosion caused by hydraulic mining in the later years of the California Gold Rush . For years, the epicenter of the quake was assumed to be near the town of Olema , in the Point Reyes area of Marin County , due to local earth displacement measurements. In the 1960s, a seismologist at UC Berkeley proposed that the epicenter was more likely offshore of San Francisco, to
2223-728: A rooftop garden in the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens , formerly the New Otani Hotel . The Go for Broke Monument commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the United States Military during World War II . With its proximity to Hollywood and its concentration as a focal point for the Pan Asian American community, Little Tokyo Los Angeles has long served as an incubator for Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and performers sporting
2340-509: A time when the science of seismology was blossoming. Although the impact of the earthquake on San Francisco was the most famous, the earthquake also inflicted considerable damage on several other cities. These include San Jose and Santa Rosa , the entire downtown of which was essentially destroyed. As damaging as the earthquake and its aftershocks were, the fires that burned out of control afterward were far more destructive. It has been estimated that at least 80%, and at most over 95%, of
2457-450: A traditional ethnic enclave , there are relatively few Japanese residents in the area. Even so, the Japanese-American community was politicized by the internment and redress effort , which, along with the global and local growth of overseas Japanese investment, has assured that Little Tokyo has continued to exist as a tourist attraction, community center, and home to Japanese-American senior citizens and others. During its inception in 1980,
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#17327726213932574-599: A woman who lit her stove to prepare breakfast, unaware of the badly damaged chimney, destroying a 30-block area, including a college, the Hall of Records and City Hall. Some of the fires were started when San Francisco Fire Department firefighters, untrained in the use of dynamite , attempted to demolish buildings to create firebreaks . The dynamited buildings often caught fire. The city's fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan , who would have been responsible for coordinating firefighting efforts, had died from injuries sustained in
2691-572: Is bounded on the west by Los Angeles Street, on the east by Alameda Street, on the south by 3rd Street , and on the north by First Street, but also includes a substantial portion of the block north of First and west of Alameda, location of the Japanese American National Museum , the Go For Broke Monument , and a row of historic shops which lines the north side of First Street. A timeline has been set into
2808-556: Is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense, where the western (Pacific) plate moves northward relative to the eastern (North American) plate. This fault runs the length of California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, a distance of about 810 miles (1,300 km). The maximum observed surface displacement was about 20 feet (6 m); geodetic measurements show displacements of up to 28 feet (8.5 m). The 1906 earthquake preceded
2925-450: Is credited with saving nearly 1,500 specimens, including the entire type specimen collection for a newly discovered and extremely rare species, before the remainder of the largest botanical collection in the western United States was destroyed in the fire. The entire laboratory and all the records of Benjamin R. Jacobs , a biochemist who was researching the nutrition of everyday foods, were destroyed. The original California flag used in
3042-460: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Little Tokyo, Los Angeles#History Little Tokyo ( Japanese : リトル・トーキョー ), also known as Little Tokyo Historic District , is an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America. It is the largest and most populous of only three official Japantowns in
3159-427: Is equivalent to $ 10.2 billion in 2023 dollars. An insurance industry source tallies insured losses at $ 235 million, the equivalent to $ 5.97 billion in 2023 dollars. Political and business leaders strongly downplayed the effects of the earthquake, fearing loss of outside investment in the city which was badly needed to rebuild. In his first public statement, California Governor George Pardee emphasized
3276-570: Is mainly a work, cultural, religious, restaurant and shopping district, because Japanese Americans today are likely to live in nearby cities such as Torrance , Gardena , and Monterey Park , as well as the Sawtelle district in the Westside of Los Angeles. However, the recent boom in downtown residential construction is changing the nature of Little Tokyo. What is left of the original Little Tokyo can be found in roughly five large city blocks. It
3393-468: Is still uncertain, but various reports presented a range of 700–3,000+. In 2005, the city's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in support of a resolution written by novelist James Dalessandro ("1906") and city historian Gladys Hansen ("Denial of Disaster") to recognize the figure of 3,000+ as the official total. Most of the deaths occurred within San Francisco, but 189 were reported elsewhere in
3510-562: Is talking of it this afternoon, and no one is in the least degree dismayed. I have talked and listened in two clubs, watched people in cars and in the street, and one man is glad that Chinatown will be cleared out for good; another's chief solicitude is for Millet 's Man with a Hoe . 'They'll cut it out of the frame,' he says, a little anxiously. 'Sure.' But there is no doubt anywhere that San Francisco can be rebuilt, larger, better, and soon. Just as there would be none at all if all this New York that has so obsessed me with its limitless bigness
3627-527: The Bank of Canada in Ottawa gave $ 25,000. The U.S. government quickly voted for one million dollars in relief supplies which were immediately rushed to the area, including supplies for food kitchens and many thousands of tents that city dwellers would occupy the next several years. These relief efforts were not enough to get families on their feet again, and consequently the burden was placed on wealthier members of
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3744-619: The California Senate enacted the California Standard Form of Fire Insurance Policy, which did not contain any earthquake clause. Thus the state decided that insurers would have to pay again if another earthquake was followed by fires. Other earthquake-endangered countries followed the California example. The 1906 Centennial Alliance was set up as a clearing-house for various centennial events commemorating
3861-571: The Imperial Valley area, which culminated in an earthquake of about 6.1 M I at 16:30 PST on April 18, 1906. Another event of this type occurred at 12:31 PST on April 19, 1906, with an estimated magnitude of about 5.0 M I , and an epicenter beneath Santa Monica Bay . Early death counts ranged from 375 to over 500. However, hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded. The total number of deaths
3978-871: The JACCC at the Aratani Theatre. The Aratani has also served as a home venue to the Grammy Nominated Jazz fusion group Hiroshima (band) founded by Dan Kuramoto & June Kuramoto. Actress Tamlyn Tomita began her career when she was crowned "Nisei Week Queen" in 1984 which led to her breakout casting in The Karate Kid Part 2 . Filmmakers such as Justin Lin , Quentin Lee , and Justin Chon have premiered some of their early career making films at
4095-562: The Jordan Downs housing complex. In 1945, many defense industry jobs disappeared and the workers moved elsewhere in search of new employment. Others were pushed out when Japanese Americans began to return and white landlords chose not to renew leases with their wartime tenants. Following the War, many previous Japanese residents returned to Little Tokyo to continue managing businesses by purchasing Bronzeville business leases. Albeit smaller,
4212-496: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival . Actor Dante Basco has been a mainstay performing his poetry alongside many others at Tuesday Night Project. Musicians such as AJ Rafael , Jane Lui , MC Jin and more have long relationships with Kollaboration since before the "youtube-boom" that saw many AAPI artists and musicians find an internet based audience. Little Tokyo continues to be
4329-611: The Museum of Contemporary Art , formerly called the Temporary Contemporary and now known as the Geffen Contemporary (named after David Geffen ). Additionally, the visual arts are represented by the arts non-profit, LAArtcore which devotes itself to creating awareness of the visual arts through 24 exhibitions each year along with educational programming. An art gallery called 123 Astronaut is housed within
4446-498: The U.S. Mint , post office, and county jail. They aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of the fires. The Army also became responsible for feeding, sheltering, and clothing the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the city. Under the command of Funston's superior, Major General Adolphus Greely , Commanding Officer of the Pacific Division, over 4,000 federal troops saw service during
4563-460: The Zoot Suit race riots . In 1943, officials bowed to pressure from frustrated residents and proposed building temporary housing in nearby Willowbrook , but the majority-white residents of the unincorporated city resisted the plans. In 1944, 57 Bronzeville buildings were condemned as unfit for habitation and 125 ordered repaired or renovated; approximately 50 of the evicted families were sent to
4680-645: The "man who built San Francisco". In April 1906, the tenor Enrico Caruso and members of the Metropolitan Opera Company came to San Francisco to give a series of performances at the Grand Opera House . The night after Caruso's performance in Carmen , the tenor was awakened in the early morning in his Palace Hotel suite by a strong jolt. Clutching an autographed photo of President Theodore Roosevelt , Caruso made an effort to get out of
4797-527: The 1846 Bear Flag Revolt at Sonoma , which at the time was being stored in a state building in San Francisco, was also destroyed in the fire. The city's fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan, was gravely injured when the earthquake first struck and later died from his injuries. The interim fire chief sent an urgent request to the Presidio, a United States Army post on the edge of the stricken city, for dynamite. General Frederick Funston had already decided that
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4914-450: The 22nd Infantry and other military units involved in the emergency. Ord later wrote a long letter to his mother on April 20 regarding Schmitz's "Shoot-to-Kill" order and some "despicable" behavior of certain soldiers of the 22nd Infantry who were looting. He also made it clear that the majority of soldiers served the community well. Property losses from the disaster have been estimated to be more than $ 400 million in 1906 dollars. This
5031-469: The 800 seat Aratani Theater, which features theatre, dance, concerts as well as cultural performances and events. Visual Communications , an Asian Pacific American media arts organization that annually presents VC FilmFest (Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival), in several venues around Little Tokyo. Tuesday Night Project is the longest running Asian American open Mic event in the nation running every 1st and 3rd Tuesday from April through October in
5148-687: The Bay Area; nearby cities such as Santa Rosa and San Jose also suffered severe damage. Between 227,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless out of a population of about 410,000; half of those who evacuated fled across the bay to Oakland and Berkeley . Newspapers described Golden Gate Park , the Presidio, the Panhandle and the beaches between Ingleside and North Beach as covered with makeshift tents. More than two years later, many of these refugee camps were still in operation. The earthquake and fire left long-standing and significant pressures on
5265-657: The Central Japanese Association, Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL), and the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce. Concurrently, these leaders worked with Japan to establish kenjinkai or mutual aid societies each associated to one of the Japanese Prefectures. These associations would provide mutual aid and social opportunities to Japanese families that had immigrated from the same prefecture represented by
5382-494: The Chinese population and export Chinatown (and other poor populations) to the edge of the county where the Chinese could still contribute to the local taxbase. The Chinese occupants had other ideas and prevailed instead. Chinatown was rebuilt in the newer, modern, Western form that exists today. The destruction of City Hall and the Hall of Records enabled thousands of Chinese immigrants to claim residency and citizenship, creating
5499-538: The Comedy Comedy Festival. There are numerous Japanese restaurants, catering to both Japanese and non-Japanese clientele. Many of them specialize in one type of Japanese cuisine , such as donburi , Japanese noodles ( soba , ramen and udon ), shabu-shabu (which translated from Japanese means 'swish-swish', referring to the motion of dipping meat and vegetables in a communal bowl of boiling water), Japanese curry, sushi, or yakitori. There are also
5616-581: The Federal Government of the United States had not conducted the serious studies that were needed to gather data about earthquakes on the west coast. He said public discussion was being stifled by fears that acknowledgement of earthquakes would drive away business and investors, and that geologists were told not to gather information about the 1906 earthquake, and certainly to not publish it. Some people went as far as to deny that an earthquake had happened. Branner argued that preparation for earthquakes
5733-617: The Go For Broke Plaza, promises to provide essential housing units while serving as a permanent home for the Go For Broke National Education Center, a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the courage and sacrifices of Japanese-American soldiers . At its peak, Little Tokyo had approximately 30,000 Japanese Americans living in the area. Little Tokyo is still a cultural focal point for Los Angeles's Japanese American population. It
5850-638: The Highlanders (soon to be the Yankees) and the Philadelphia Athletics to raise money for quake survivors. William James , the pioneering American psychologist, was teaching at Stanford at the time of the earthquake and traveled into San Francisco to observe first-hand its aftermath. He was most impressed by the positive attitude of the survivors and the speed with which they improvised services and created order out of chaos. This formed
5967-672: The Koyasan Buddhist Temple (1912), Japanese Union Church (1923), and Hompa Hongwaji Buddhist Temple (1925). The growing population in Little Tokyo was supplemented by the establishment of primary, secondary, and trade schools. A large amount of trade schools in Little Tokyo were sewing schools. The largest was the Rafu Yossai Gakuen which taught sewing skills to Issei women. During this time period various newspapers catered towards Japanese Americans in Los Angeles were founded. The first Japanese newspaper in
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#17327726213936084-610: The LAPD's former headquarters, was the original site of the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. The south edge of the block where Parker Center stands was part of the First Street business strip of shops. The warehouses and new condominiums to the east of Little Tokyo were once residential areas of the district. Similar urban development would continue in the 1960s and 1970s, further shrinking the extent of
6201-688: The Nations . The Nisei Week festival is held every August, and includes a large parade, a pageant, athletic events, exhibits of Japanese art and culture, a taiko drum festival, the Japanese Festival Street Faire, a car show, and other events. There are also two Japanese gardens in the area open to the public: the James Irvine garden in the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and
6318-453: The United States in which Japan voluntarily restricted the emigration of Japanese laborers, allowing only families of current residents to immigrate, in exchange for the United States to ensure no discrimination against the Japanese people in the US. The implementation of the agreement led to an influx of women who joined family or husbands as new brides in Little Tokyo. As a result, Little Tokyo saw
6435-400: The United States was Rafu Shimpo , founded in Little Tokyo in 1903 and which continues to operate. Founded during this time were rotating savings and credit associations known as tanomoshiko , which provided funding towards emerging business ventures in Little Tokyo. Community Leaders in the 1920s and 1930s established local entities of prominent Japanese American associations such as
6552-503: The United States, all of which are in California (the other two are Japantown, San Francisco , and Japantown, San Jose ). Founded around the beginning of the 20th century, the area, sometimes called Lil' Tokyo , J-Town , Shō-Tōkyō ( 小東京 ) , is the cultural center for Japanese Americans in Southern California . It was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 played
6669-621: The Weller Court mall was opposed by some people in the community because it redeveloped a strip of family-owned small businesses. Community activists established First Street as a historic district in 1986. In 2004, they helped reopen the Far East Cafe, an acknowledged community hub. Little Tokyo continues to develop and change with the general development of the greater Los Angeles Area through ordinances, construction, coalitions, etc. The 2024 announcement of First North Residences and
6786-494: The arts colony reputation that continues today. The 1908 Lawson Report, a study of the 1906 quake led and edited by Professor Andrew Lawson of the University of California, showed that the same San Andreas Fault which had caused the disaster in San Francisco ran close to Los Angeles as well. The earthquake was the first natural disaster of its magnitude to be documented by photography and motion picture footage and occurred at
6903-504: The association. By 1940, the breadth of kenjinkai covered 40/46 Japanese Prefectures. In 1941, Little Tokyo reached its peak population with approximately 30,000 Japanese Americans living in Little Tokyo. The 1941 Pearl Harbor bombing brought an end to the increase in Japanese American population in Little Tokyo. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II emptied Little Tokyo. Beginning in 1942, after
7020-540: The basis of the chapter "On some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" in his book Memories and Studies . H. G. Wells had just arrived in New York on his first visit to America when he learned of the San Francisco earthquake. What struck him about the reaction of those around him was that "it does not seem to have affected any one with a sense of final destruction, with any foreboding of irreparable disaster. Every one
7137-403: The buildings was renovated for outpatient care with 75 beds. This created the need to train nursing students, and the UC Training School for Nurses was established, adding a fourth professional school to the Affiliated Colleges. The grandeur of citywide reconstruction schemes required investment from Eastern monetary sources, hence the spin and de-emphasis of the earthquake, the promulgation of
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#17327726213937254-597: The city and its "rise from the ashes". Since 1915, the city has officially commemorated the disaster each year by gathering the remaining survivors at Lotta's Fountain , a fountain in the city's financial district that served as a meeting point during the disaster for people to look for loved ones and exchange information. The Army built 5,610 redwood and fir "relief houses" to accommodate 20,000 displaced people. The houses were designed by John McLaren , and were grouped in eleven camps, packed close to each other and rented to people for two dollars per month until rebuilding
7371-445: The city was destroyed. The event is remembered as the deadliest earthquake in the history of the United States . The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high on the lists of American disasters. The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific plate and the North American plate . The strike-slip fault
7488-501: The city's Japanese population was rounded up and "evacuated" to inland concentration camps , a large number of African Americans from the South moved to Los Angeles to find work in the labor-starved defense industry. Its share in the Second Great Migration almost tripled Little Tokyo's pre-war population, with some 80,000 new arrivals taking up residence there. For a brief time, the area became known as Bronzeville, as African Americans and also Native Americans and Latinos moved into
7605-425: The city, first by boat and then by train, and vowed never to return to San Francisco. Caruso died in 1921, having remained true to his word. The Metropolitan Opera Company lost all of its traveling sets and costumes in the earthquake and ensuing fires. Some of the greatest losses from fire were in scientific laboratories. Alice Eastwood , the curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco,
7722-566: The city, who were reluctant to assist in the rebuilding of homes they were not responsible for. All residents were eligible for daily meals served from a number of communal soup kitchens, and citizens as far away as Idaho and Utah were known to send daily loaves of bread to San Francisco as relief supplies were coordinated by the railroads. Insurance companies, faced with staggering claims of $ 250 million, paid out between $ 235 million and $ 265 million on policyholders' claims, often for fire damage only, since shake damage from earthquakes
7839-454: The coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI ( Extreme ). High-intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley , an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area . Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days. More than 3,000 people died, and over 80% of
7956-457: The concrete in front of these shops, using bronze lettering, showing the history of each of the shops from the early 20th Century until the renovation of the district in the late 1980s. More broadly, Little Tokyo is bordered by the Los Angeles River to the east, downtown Los Angeles to the west, L.A. City Hall the Parker Center to the north, and Skid Row to the south. Museums include the Japanese American National Museum and an extension of
8073-421: The country, the organization hosts its annual national culmination "KOLLABORATION STAR" event at the Aratani Theatre, as well as their EMPOWER conference as incubator events for APIDA artists in the music industry. With the proximity of these organizations and Arts non-profit organizations, many notable actors, musicians and entertainers of AAPI descent have either begun their careers here, or continue to maintain
8190-483: The coverage of Little Tokyo. In the 1970s, a redevelopment movement started as Japanese corporations expanded overseas operations and many of them set up their U.S. headquarters in the Los Angeles area . Named the Little Tokyo Project, this movement resulted in the opening of several new shopping plazas and hotels opened, along with branches of some major Japanese banks. Although this redevelopment resulted in many new buildings and shopping centers, there are still some of
8307-405: The development of California. At the time of the disaster, San Francisco had been the ninth-largest city in the United States and the largest on the West Coast . Over a period of 60 years, the city had become the financial, trade, and cultural center of the West , operating the busiest port on the West Coast. It was the "gateway to the Pacific", through which growing U.S. economic and military power
8424-581: The development of the Richter scale by three decades. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the quake on the modern moment magnitude scale is 7.9; values from 7.7 to as high as 8.3 have been proposed. According to findings published in the Journal of Geophysical Research , severe deformations in the Earth's crust took place both before and after the earthquake's impact. Accumulated strain on
8541-686: The earthquake strongly suggests that the rupture along the San Andreas Fault was about 310 miles (500 km) in length, in agreement with observed intensity data. The available seismological data support a significantly shorter rupture length, but these observations can be reconciled by allowing propagation at speeds above the S-wave velocity ( supershear ). Supershear propagation has now been recognized for many earthquakes associated with strike-slip faulting. In 2019, using an old photograph and an eyewitness account, researchers were able to refine
8658-777: The earthquake when it became too much trouble for them. Del Monte and another survivor, Rose Cliver (1902–2012), then 106, attended the earthquake reunion celebration on April 18, 2009, the 103rd anniversary of the earthquake. Nancy Stoner Sage (1905–2010) died, aged 105, in Colorado just three days short of the 104th anniversary of the earthquake on April 18, 2010. Del Monte attended the event at Lotta's Fountain in 2010. 107-year-old George Quilici (1905–2012) died in May 2012, and 113-year-old Ruth Newman (1901–2015) in July 2015. William Del Monte (1906–2016), who died 11 days shy of his 110th birthday,
8775-529: The earthquake. Award presentations, religious services, a National Geographic TV movie, a projection of fire onto the Coit Tower, memorials, and lectures were part of the commemorations. The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program issued a series of Internet documents, and the tourism industry promoted the 100th anniversary as well. Eleven survivors of the 1906 earthquake attended the centennial commemorations in 2006, including Irma Mae Weule (1899–2008), who
8892-428: The emergency. Police officers, firefighters, and soldiers would regularly commandeer passing civilians for work details to remove rubble and assist in rescues. On July 1, 1906, non-military authorities assumed responsibility for relief efforts, and the Army withdrew from the city. On April 18, in response to riots among evacuees and looting, Mayor Schmitz issued and ordered posted a proclamation that "The Federal Troops,
9009-461: The faults in the system was relieved during the earthquake, which is the supposed cause of the damage along the 280-mile-long (450 km) segment of the San Andreas plate boundary. The 1906 rupture propagated both northward and southward for a total of 296 miles (476 km). Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and as far inland as central Nevada . A strong foreshock preceded
9126-441: The fire had the effect of increasing the share of land used for nonresidential purposes: "Overall, relative to unburned blocks, residential land shares on burned blocks fell while nonresidential land shares rose by 1931. The study also provides insight into what held the city back from making these changes before 1906: the presence of old residential buildings. In reconstruction, developers built relatively fewer of these buildings, and
9243-583: The first Japanese institutions, associations, and establishments were founded in Los Angeles as Issei (first generation Japanese immigrants) began to congregate in the area. The first Japanese religious institution founded in Little Tokyo was the Japanese Episcopal Mission of Los Angeles, now Century United Methodist Church, founded in June 1896 by a group of 5 issei from southern Japan. Other religious institutions continued to be founded:
9360-624: The first Japanese-owned business in LA, Kame Restaurant, along the East First Street . Attracted by the restaurant and nearby demands for labor, other Japanese immigrant men followed suit as they settled along East First Street in nearby boarding houses. The first Japanese boarding house in Los Angeles was established by Sanjuro Mizuno, who opened the Santa Fe Boarding House in 1898 to cater to Japanese laborers. To house
9477-478: The first few days after news of the disaster reached the rest of the world, relief efforts reached over $ 5,000,000, equivalent to $ 169,560,000 in 2023. London raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Individual citizens and businesses donated large sums of money for the relief effort: Standard Oil and Andrew Carnegie each gave $ 100,000; the Dominion of Canada made a special appropriation of $ 100,000; and even
9594-441: The first few days of near M 5 or greater occurred near Santa Cruz at 14:28 PST on April 18, with a magnitude of about 4.9 M I . The largest aftershock happened at 01:10 PST on April 23, west of Eureka with an estimated magnitude of about 6.7 M I , with another of the same size more than three years later at 22:45 PST on October 28 near Cape Mendocino. Remotely triggered events included an earthquake swarm in
9711-611: The industrialized area. Al's Bar, Gorky's, the Atomic Cafe and LA Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) are some well-known sites. Land use has been a contentious issue in Little Tokyo due to its history, the proximity to the Los Angeles Civic Center neighborhood, the role of Los Angeles as a site of business between Japan and America, and the increasing influx of residents into the Arts District . Unlike
9828-512: The initial quake. In total, the fires burned for four days and nights. Most of the destruction in the city was attributed to the fires, since widespread practice by insurers was to indemnify San Francisco properties from fire but not from earthquake damage. Some property owners deliberately set fire to damaged properties to claim them on their insurance. Captain Leonard D. Wildman of the U.S. Army Signal Corps reported that he "was stopped by
9945-583: The international financial system. Gold transfers from European insurance companies to policyholders in San Francisco led to a rise in interest rates, subsequently to a lack of available loans and finally to the Knickerbocker Trust Company crisis of October 1907 which led to the Panic of 1907 . After the 1906 earthquake, global discussion arose concerning a legally flawless exclusion of the earthquake hazard from fire insurance contracts. It
10062-506: The largest urban park in the world, stretching from Twin Peaks to Lake Merced with a large atheneum at its peak. But this plan was dismissed during the aftermath of the earthquake. For example, real estate investors and other land owners were against the idea because of the large amount of land the city would have to purchase to realize such proposals. While the original street grid was restored, many of Burnham's proposals inadvertently saw
10179-410: The light of day, such as a neoclassical civic center complex, wider streets, a preference of arterial thoroughfares, a subway under Market Street , a more people-friendly Fisherman's Wharf , and a monument to the city on Telegraph Hill , Coit Tower . Limestone used to reconstruct city buildings was quarried at the nearby Rockaway Quarry . City fathers likewise attempted at the time to eliminate
10296-484: The location of the hypocenter of the earthquake as offshore from San Francisco or near San Juan Bautista , confirming previous estimates. The most important characteristic of the shaking intensity noted in Andrew Lawson 's 1908 report was the clear correlation of intensity with underlying geologic conditions. Areas situated in sediment -filled valleys sustained stronger shaking than nearby bedrock sites, and
10413-483: The main shock by about 20 to 25 seconds. The strong shaking of the main shock lasted about 42 seconds. There were decades of minor earthquakes – more than at any other time in the historical record for northern California – before the 1906 quake. Previously interpreted as precursory activity to the 1906 earthquake, they have been found to have a strong seasonal pattern and are now believed to be caused by large seasonal sediment loads in coastal bays that overlie faults as
10530-434: The majority of the reduction came through single-family houses. Also, aside from merely expanding nonresidential uses in many neighborhoods, the fire created economic opportunities in new areas, resulting in clusters of business activity that emerged only in the wake of the disaster. These effects of the fire still remain today, and thus large shocks can be sufficient catalysts for permanently reshaping urban settings." During
10647-654: The members of the Regular Police Force and all Special Police Officers have been authorized by me to kill any and all persons found engaged in Looting or in the Commission of Any Other Crime". Accusations of soldiers engaging in looting also surfaced. Retired Captain Edward Ord of the 22nd Infantry Regiment was appointed a special police officer by Schmitz and liaised with Greely for relief work with
10764-516: The need to rebuild quickly: "This is not the first time that San Francisco has been destroyed by fire, I have not the slightest doubt that the City by the Golden Gate will be speedily rebuilt, and will, almost before we know it, resume her former great activity". The earthquake is not even mentioned in the statement. Fatality and monetary damage estimates were manipulated. Almost immediately after
10881-577: The northwest of the Golden Gate . The most recent analyses support an offshore location for the epicenter, although significant uncertainty remains. An offshore epicenter is supported by the occurrence of a local tsunami recorded by a tide gauge at the San Francisco Presidio ; the wave had an amplitude of approximately 3 inches (7.6 cm) and an approximate period of 40–45 minutes. Analysis of triangulation data before and after
10998-590: The oldest still-operating food establishment in the city and the first one to celebrate a centennial; its best-known offerings include mochi and manjū , and it claims to be an inventor of the fortune cookie . Mikawaya was founded in 1910, but is now well known as the company that introduced mochi ice cream to the United States in 1994. Little Tokyo has several shops that specialize in Japanese-language videos and DVDs , while other shops specialize in Japanese electronics and video games . These are
11115-412: The original Little Tokyo buildings and restaurants, especially along First Street. The Little Tokyo Project would transform Little Tokyo into its present version: an area bounded by Los Angeles Street , Alameda Street , Third Street , and half a block north from First Street. During the 1970s and 1980s, artists began to move into nearby aging warehouse spaces in the area, forming a hidden community in
11232-587: The public courtyard of the Union Center for the Arts Cold Tofu Improv was founded in 1981 as the nation's first Asian American Improv & Comedy Group. Teaching classes in short form and long form improv. Kollaboration founded in 2000, is an organization focusing on advancing Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi Americans (APIDA) in the Music and entertainment industries. With affiliates in San Francisco, Atlanta, Hawaii, Houston, Boston and throughout
11349-437: The quake (and even during the disaster), planning and reconstruction plans were hatched to quickly rebuild the city. Rebuilding funds were immediately tied up by the fact that virtually all the major banks had been sites of the conflagration, requiring a lengthy wait of seven to ten days before their fire-proof vaults could cool sufficiently to be safely opened. The Bank of Italy (now Bank of America ) had evacuated its funds and
11466-581: The situation required the use of federal troops. Telephoning a San Francisco Police Department officer, he sent word to Mayor Eugene Schmitz of his decision to assist and then ordered federal troops from nearby Angel Island to mobilize and enter the city. Explosives were ferried across the bay from the California Powder Works in what is now Hercules . During the first few days, soldiers provided valuable services like patrolling streets to discourage looting and guarding buildings such as
11583-488: The strongest shaking occurred in areas of former bay where soil liquefaction had occurred. Modern seismic-zonation practice accounts for the differences in seismic hazard posed by varying geologic conditions. The shaking intensity as described on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale reached XI ( Extreme ) in San Francisco and areas to the north like Santa Rosa where destruction was devastating. The main shock
11700-469: The total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires. Within three days, over 30 fires, caused by ruptured gas mains, destroyed approximately 25,000 buildings on 490 city blocks. The fires cost an estimated $ 350 million at the time (equivalent to $ 8.9 billion in 2023). The Ham and Eggs fire, in the morning on the 18th, at Hayes and Gough Streets, in Hayes Valley , was started by
11817-428: The tough new building codes, and subsequent reputation sensitive actions such as the official low death toll. One of the more famous and ambitious plans came from famed urban planner Daniel Burnham . His bold plan called for, among other proposals, Haussmann -style avenues, boulevards, arterial thoroughfares that radiated across the city, a massive civic center complex with classical structures, and what would have been
11934-654: The vacated properties and opened up nightclubs, restaurants, and other businesses. Prohibited from buying and renting in most parts of the city by restrictive covenants , the area soon became severely overcrowded. A single bathroom was often shared by up to 40 people and one room could house as many as 16 occupants; people frequently shared "hot beds," sleeping in shifts. Poor housing conditions helped spread communicable illnesses like tuberculosis and venereal disease. Crimes like robberies, rapes, and hit-and-run accidents increased, and in May and June 1943 Latino and some African American residents of Bronzeville were attacked by whites in
12051-408: The wave of new immigrants coming to Little Tokyo, early immigrants also opened more of them. By the early 1900s, the Japanese population in Little Tokyo had reached a population of around 3,000. It jumped to 10,000 following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake , which convinced many Japanese to move from San Francisco to Los Angeles. In 1907, The Gentleman's Agreement was signed between Japan and
12168-418: The wealthy looked westward where the land was cheap and relatively undeveloped, and where there were better views. Constructing new mansions without reclaiming and clearing rubble simply sped attaining new homes in the tent city during the reconstruction. Reconstruction was swift, and largely completed by 1915, in time for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition which celebrated the reconstruction of
12285-463: Was a magnet for immigrating Japanese until the Exclusion Act of 1924 halted any further migration. Shops were along First Street, and vegetable markets were along Central Avenue to the south. Japanese Americans were a significant ethnic group in the vegetable trade, due to the number of successful Japanese American truck farms across Southern California. The East First Street area is where
12402-401: Was able to provide liquidity in the immediate aftermath. Its president also immediately chartered and financed the sending of two ships to return with shiploads of lumber from Washington and Oregon mills which provided the initial reconstruction materials and surge. In an article written in 1913, John C. Branner, who was the first to begin study of the San Andreas fault in 1891 complained that
12519-496: Was closed on June 30, 1908. Most of the cottages have been destroyed, but at least 30 survived. Of the remaining structures, there is a historically restored pair in the Presidio. Others have been built on as part of private homes, with a high concentration around the Bernal Heights neighborhood. One of the modest 720 sq ft (67 m ) homes was purchased in 2006 for more than $ 600,000. A 2017 study found that
12636-452: Was completed. They were painted navy blue, partly to blend in with the site and partly because the military had large quantities of navy blue paint on hand. The camps had a peak population of 16,448 people, but by 1907 most people had moved out. The camps were then re-used as garages, storage spaces or shops. The cottages cost on average $ 100 to build. The $ 2 monthly rents went towards the full purchase price of $ 50. The last official refugee camp
12753-695: Was excluded from coverage under most policies. At least 137 insurance companies were directly involved and another 17 as reinsurers. Twenty companies went bankrupt. Lloyd's of London reports having paid all claims in full, more than $ 50 million, thanks to the leadership of Cuthbert Heath . Insurance companies in Hartford, Connecticut , report paying every claim in full, with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company paying over $ 11 million and Aetna Insurance Company almost $ 3 million. The insurance payments heavily affected
12870-486: Was followed by many aftershocks and some remotely triggered events . As with the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake , there were fewer aftershocks than would have been expected for a shock of that size. Very few of them were located along the trace of the 1906 rupture, tending to concentrate near the ends of the rupture or on other structures away from the San Andreas Fault, such as the Hayward Fault . The only aftershock in
12987-679: Was itself a blazing ruin. I believe these people would more than half like the situation." The earthquake was crucial in the development of the University of California, San Francisco and its medical facilities. Until 1906, the school faculty had provided care at the City-County Hospital (now the San Francisco General Hospital ), but did not have a hospital of its own. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, more than 40,000 people were relocated to
13104-547: Was possible and necessary: The only way we know of to deal successfully with any natural phenomenon is to get acquainted with it, to find out all we can about it, and thus to meet it on its own grounds. That is the way mankind has succeeded thus far, and it is safe to conclude that it is the only way it will ever succeed. Eleven days after the earthquake a rare Sunday baseball game was played in New York City (which would not allow regular Sunday baseball until 1919) between
13221-465: Was pressed ahead mainly by re-insurers. Their aim: a uniform solution to insurance payouts resulting from fires caused by earthquakes. Until 1910, a few countries, especially in Europe, followed the call for an exclusion of the earthquake hazard from all fire insurance contracts. In the U.S., the question was discussed differently. But the traumatized public reacted with fierce opposition. On August 1, 1909,
13338-543: Was projected into the Pacific and Asia. Over 80% of the city was destroyed by the earthquake and fire. Though San Francisco rebuilt quickly, the disaster diverted trade, industry, and population growth south to Los Angeles, which during the 20th century became the largest and most important urban area in the West. Many of the city's leading poets and writers retreated to Carmel-by-the-Sea where, as "The Barness", they established
13455-793: Was the Tomio Building , home to the Japanese-American Tomio Department Store , and two more Japanese-American department stores, the Asia Company and Hori Brothers. The area is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District . Los Angeles Public Library operates the Little Tokyo Branch. 1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906,
13572-667: Was the oldest survivor of the quake at the time of her death in August 2008, aged 109. Vivian Illing (1900–2009) was believed to be the second-oldest survivor at the time of her death, aged 108, leaving Herbert Hamrol (1903–2009) as the last known remaining survivor at the time of his death, aged 106. Another survivor, Libera Armstrong (1902–2007), attended the 2006 anniversary but died in 2007, aged 105. Shortly after Hamrol's death, two additional survivors were discovered. William Del Monte, then 103, and Jeanette Scola Trapani (1902–2009), 106, stated that they stopped attending events commemorating
13689-659: Was the second major project of the East West Development Corporation in association with the Community Redevelopment Agency, after the $ 30 million New Otani. Groundbreaking was held in November 1978, to be completed in 1979 with 62,780 square feet (5,832 m ) of gross leasable area. The architect was Kajima Associates. In the 1920s, the southeast corner of First Street was the beginning of Little Tokyo. At this corner
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